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I used Uhaul just last week. When we went to pick it up, the customer service associates were rude and wouldn't explain anything to me about the insurances or anything for that matter.

I was willing to let that go, so we got the truck and left. As we were moving my things, I felt itchy but thought it due to being sweaty/dirty from moving. My first night in my new place, I woke up to itching from two separate "mosquito" bites. The next morning as I was cleaning, I found a bug that resembled a bed bug and killed it.

I called my landlord and the exterminator he brought with him confirmed bed bugs. After the bombing, it was clear that they didn't come from the apt because there weren't but 3 of them. If they had been there before, there would have been way more. Same reason is how I know I didn't have them before, not to mention I'm seriously allergic to their *** so I would have already had bites.

So it came from the Uhaul. After some research I've learned that UHAUL DOES NOT EXTERMINATE THEIR TRUCKS FOR BED BUGS! So I called the customer service number, and of course the bad service doesn't end there. I was called a liar by the first representative and he yelled over me on the phone so I couldn't say anything.

He also yelled at me about me posting a negative review on their website, which if they don't want negative reviews, they shouldn't send any out! You're never going to have ALL positives! I then hung up and called back to speak to management. That is a job in itself because apparently "EVERYONE" is a corporate manager :-/ So I finally reach a real manager who claims he knows everything about the situation because his employee already called him, and he did the same thing the employee did.

He argued with me tooth and nail on the phone, spoke over me, wouldn't let me speak my side of the story and claimed he would speak to his employee to get his side of the story?!?! Bull ***. I don't care how in the wrong a customer is, you never treat them disrespectfully. I was also told the cost to exterminate their trucks regularly is too much.

I'm sorry, but bed bugs are a serious and sensitive issue and you should do what you can to ensure your customers won't have to deal with them due to using your service. I will never use their service again.

I no longer have the bed bug issue because my landlord had them exterminated. Which is something Uhaul should be doing!

Monetary Loss: $43.

Location: Cincinnati, Ohio

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Guest

There is no way a uhaul truck could have bed bugs they have nothing to attach to the bed bugs came from you. I am an exterminator. Bed bug would die after a few hours in the metal uhaul truck

Guest
reply icon Replying to comment of Guest-1711154

Thatโ€™s actually a lie. Bed bugs can live outside, so they can live inside the truck.

What they do is hide themselves. Uhauls are commonly used by people to move so it can very easily come out of hiding and bite a person to repopulate and attach itself to a persons clothes and their things.

With that being said, bed bugs can go several months without food from their host. Iโ€™ve done my research and went through this issue so I can speak on it.

Guest

Thank you for sharing

Guest

I am dealing with exactly the same issues! All around!

Between the manager of the location as well as corporate! I tried to vacate my unit weeks prior to my due date and found bed bugs. Now they are threatening to lock me out of my unit for failure to pay... why should i have to pay while my items are being treated for bed bugs that i didn't bring!?!

I wanted to vacate the storage unit! Now i can't because of bed bugs and they exist me to pay

Guest

Actually she wouldn't have much of a choice about disclosing the bed bugs, as in many states, especially up North, laws state that any house that is sold has to be inspected by an exterminator. That's why she took the 10,000 hit to the original price of the house I'm willing to bet.

Guest

I something happened to me just like that and very *** because they saying I'm lying when I never had them before they was all over my curtains

Guest

@Thomas

Are you serious. Have you done any research into the biology of bed bugs? They can survive some fairly harsh environments INCLUDING some pesticides, and if you are moving in spring or fall you are not going to see radical shifts in temperature in order to kill bed bugs.

Further, spraying each truck is not necessary as you are right and most people don't have bed bugs. But your lack of concern for the issue is astounding. Have you considered trying a bed bug, or just pest beacon in general? It's a cheap Co2 dispenser combined with a bowl or trap. If there are pests living in the truck they will be drawn to the trap, and you will see it the next day. If there are pests, THEN exterminate the truck. I hardly see how this process would be too expensive for a prospering business.

Guest
reply icon Replying to comment of Guest-602336

@ Andy

You are correct in that bed bugs can survive in very harsh climates. I was taking the word of a friend of mine so I was ignorant to that fact.

The problem you run into is that the time it takes time to use a pest beacon on every truck (even as they come in to be checked in) and, as you also agreed, most people do not have bed bugs. Uhaul trucks are in such high demand in many locations that they are often scheduled to go out right after they come in. Many of our customers are on a time crunch to move so delaying their move (potentially costing them hundreds if not thousands of dollars) so it would hinder both the businesses and customers to waste time checking for bugs that (odds are) aren't there. Remember, all Uhaul trucks are supposed to be cleaned before being rented and since bedbugs are visible to the naked eye, we would see them on the shiny metal floor. This was an unfortunate circumstance where the truck was MIGHT not have been cleaned before being rented and the bugs COULD have been in the back. However, this situation was an accident so why should Uhaul employees waste time (mostly) and money spraying for insects that you should be able to see before use?

And, yes, the corporation may be a "prospering business" but each individual Uhaul location is different and some are not "prospering" as much as others (if hardly at all). Adding another cost to operating and labor (time) could put some of these struggling locations out of business for something that is only a precaution. Now people are saying that we should have a full-time mechanic on-site to inspect every truck before it goes out to insure that they don't break down (which very rarely happens, too). Costs would sky-rocket!

Guest
reply icon Replying to comment of Guest-753860

In addition to Thomas, bed bugs can climb walls, the shiny metal floor doesn't matter if they are in the corners overhead

Guest
reply icon Replying to comment of Guest-753860

bed bugs when young are very small and seek out cracks and crevices to hide until they feed. I am sure your employees do not check that throuhly and you truck is what caused the original posts bed bugs

Guest

First off, I would like to point out that if it couldn't happen then why is it Maria Palmisano worked with me directly to get this situation dealt with? Because it is possible, that's why.

Secondly, bed bugs are not a hygenic issue.

And as I previously stated, I had not had them prior to moving, and have been at my new place a few months now without a single issue other than my personal one. Therefore, they came from the transportation, not from either location.

Guest

I agree with ChetManly that typical bed bugs could not survive the change in heat that our trucks are subjected to. Also to exterminate our trucks after every person uses it, we would have to have an exterminator on site 24/7 and would also have to spend hours on one truck just to exterminate it properly.

It's just not feasible to think that every person who moves with Uhaul has bed bugs and we rely on our customers to take care of themselves hygenically. Also I would like to note that any exterminator worth his salt and remove bed bugs from anything so you should not have needed to throw your stuff away Miranda.

Throwing the furniture away only forces the bed bugs to seek other shelter and that's how they end up on clothes and in cars. Next time you have a bed bug problem, do the sane thing and call an exterminator before trashing most of your belongings.

Guest
reply icon Replying to comment of Guest-532188

Better late than never.

I'm sorry to break it to you but I think you need to actually read up on bedbugs, they can survive almost anything, including extreme heat and cold if it is not maintained for an adequate period of time. 120 degrees has to be maintained for a constant 20 minutes or longer to kill the bugs, for a constant 90 minutes to kill the eggs and the heat has to reach every part of a structure, all nooks, all crannies for those periods of time.

For cold it has to be below 0 at least four days constant cold every part of the structure to kill bedbugs and their eggs. I seriously doubt that every U Haul is exposed to those extreme temps on a daily basis, especially in more moderate climates in the country. In addition bedbugs are very good at hiding, and the nymphs and eggs are smaller than a pin head so no you won't always see them with the naked eye.

Instead of spreading mis-information about bed bugs, how about actually becoming educated on them? Whole wealth of sites that deliver factual information about bedbugs.

Quite a few people posting here could definitely do with a bit of reading from these websites and other resources.

As far as " exterminators being worth their salt", the bugs are resistant to many pesticides now thanks to the federal governments inaction in dealing with the issue and along with greedy corporations looking for an easy way out and not actually treating the problem. The exterminator can't do it all alone when there are absolutely no regulations regarding how some industries (mainly companies such as u haul and apartment rentals) deal with the issue. No I'm not saying every exterminator is the best or even not shady, but more often than not most take a great deal of pride in their work, and when they are telling the public that they're all having problems eradicating this particular insect, well it speaks volumes to how truly difficult these bugs can be, and its all the worse because no one wants to cooperate. Hotels are required to treat as are movie theaters and the like, however if the bugs were stopped at their source to begin with this conversation would be non existent.

I for one will remember this thread and take my business else where, or even better, buy my own truck to haul my things so I don't have to be a victim like many others on here appear to be by scrupulous businesses willing to **** over anyone for a buck.

Wow.

To the customers on here you have my condolences. I sincerely hope not all of U Hauls employees and ex employees are not only this cold, but this extremely uneducated.

Guest
reply icon Replying to comment of Guest-1182570

Well said

Guest

I came down with a serious case of bedbugs when I rented a truck from Uhaul. They failed to clean the cloth furniture covers, I moved at night, and that was it.

2 weeks later bedbugs had over taken my house. Talk about a nightmare. I was in the process of selling my house too. I couldn't afford to pay an exterminator and had to sell my house for at least $10,000 less just to get out of there because I am terribly allergic to bedbug bites...I was living in a tent in the backyard with my dog and my boyfriend by the end of it.

I had to throw away 75% of my stuff...furniture, music equipment, a mattress, a t.v., clothes...I had to buy a $300 pactite, not to mention seal-tight plastic bins for the stuff I did keep, and who knows how many bottles of isopropyl alcohol for getting rid of bedbugs in my car. I had to saran wrap about 20 pieces of musical equipment and put it in a storage space (I had to rent just for this purpose) for 2 years. I know I caught this from U-haul because my deposit from the previous apartment was returned, and I visit those apartments quite often and would know if the new tenants had bedbugs. The house I moved into was my own rental house and I had a good relationship with my tenants and if there were bedbugs when I moved in, why wasn't I being bit immediately?

I called U-haul to file a claim, told them what happened. They said they would return my call 24-36 hours later and I never heard from them again.

Guest
reply icon Replying to comment of Guest-486533

And I bet you sure as *** didn't tell the people that bought your house about the bedbug problem.

Maria P Uat

Hello, my name is Maria Palmisano and I am with U-Haul International. I want to offer you my apology for the inconvenience you experienced.

So I can research your contract further and help prevent the situation from happening again, please provide me with the date of rental and return as well as the address of both dispatch and return U-Haul locations. Let me know the name of the lessee listed on the rental contract and your contract number if available. I would be happy to send you a VIP Certificate that can be used toward a future purchase or rental on the many products and services U-Haul has to offer to help offset the inconvenience you experienced. I can be reached at [ mailto:maria_palmisano@uhaul.com ]maria_palmisano@uhaul.com.

To give you an idea of other products and services we offer, in addition to our basic truck and trailer rentals, we rent pick up trucks and cargo vans. We rent storage units, garden equipment and steam cleaners. We sell boxes, bubble pack, rope and tape.

We also sell permanent hitches, propane and locks. Thank you for your time and I hope to hear from you soon.

Guest

You didn't get bedbugs from U-Haul. Bedbugs cannot survive the hot and cold temps that a parked truck would be subjected to.

Guest
reply icon Replying to comment of Guest-477209

Assuming you're correct about the temps killing them, it is still entirely possible that bedbugs may be present on the Uhaul if the person that rented it right before you had them. In this case, the bedbugs would have not had the chance to experience the extreme temperatures yet.

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